As the author of the free Nmap [insecure.org] ("Network Mapper") tool,I have also considered creating a map of the entire Internet. I wouldhave focused on end hosts (where they are, what operating systems andservices they run, trending, etc.) instead of routing. Rather than trythis from a single high-bandwidth machine (as with Opte), I was goingto take a distributed approach. I would release a P2P-likeapplication that users could run and each scan small sections ofnetwork space to be contributed to the global database. The app would be called Nmapster:). I also liked to think about it as a"caching service", so that you don't have to spend the time rescanningthe Microsoft network if someone else has done so in the last N hours.

Then I came to my senses and decided to work on more practical andless controversial projects such as Nmap VersionDetection [insecure.org]. But the subversive in me still hasn't given up entirelyon Nmapster:).